Mankcam

I see that there is a Middle Earth BRP fan setting in this site's Downloads section, but I see it has only several chapters listed. Have I missed something? Did the other chapters get taken off, or perhaps never posted? The author was BRPCentral member fergo113, I'm not sure if he/she is still active in these forums. Fergo113 has done quite a good job and I'll certainly use alot of the material. Has anyone else done a reasonably good conversion of Middle Earth? I did my own almost 10 yrs ago now, but wasn't satisfied with it, it was more of a generic fantasy or MERP conversion and didn't really capture Tolkienesque magic or world flavour, I'ld love to see how others have approached a BRP version, especially if they have been influenced by Decipher LOTR or The One Ring which have subsequently arisen since my own attempt, and are considered to be decent portrayals by many. If there are any good BRP Tolkien blogs or anything like that I'ld appreciate any heads up. I'll probably do my home brew, but as time is limited for me these days I certainly won't need to invent the wheel if there are some other BRP conversions already out there. I'm particularly interested in concepts that portray Tolkien's world mechanics, such as Magic (Cantrips, Rune-writing, Innate Magic or 'The Gifts', The Power of Words, Spellcasting or 'The Art', Magical items, 'Noble' items, Innate Magic, Corruption etc) and Allegiance (? The Light vs The Shadow?) and stuff like that. That is the kind of content that sets Middle Earth apart from generic high fantasy, and I'm interested with how these concepts are portrayed in a BRP conversion rather than just plain character/npc/opponent stats, as I can pretty much lift those from the other BRP sources already published. Regards

I woulld certainly like to know as well, especially the release date for 'Magic World: Advanced Sorcery'...

I reckon Legend is one of the cheapest and best products to kick off if you like Fantasy, and perhaps upgrade to RQ6 later if you want more crunch. Magic World may also be a good place to start, once its released. I personally like BRP with a distinctly old RQ3 flavour, but if I was kicking it off with a new troupe I'ld definitely lean towards Legend and RQ6.

Heavy use of gunplay at times, as well as Martial Arts (Streetfighting). I'ld bring in the BGB Fate Points option as well, but rename them 'Pulp Points' instead. You can also bring in Allegiance rules, perhaps 'Virtue' vs 'Vice', and tinker with some effects... I think pretty much the rest is hard-boiled neo-noir flavour with lots of gratuitous violence and dark themes. Make sure you have some modal jazz in the background mixed in with the Sin City soundtrack and you should be able to recreate a sense of playing in Sin City...sounds like it could be fun

Oh, and BTW I really like the way it supports both the Major Wounds and the Hit Location options. BRP feels so much more tactile with Hit Locations, it's great for settings with a focus on melee combat. Thanks for going down this route Puck!

I finally got around to purchasing a copy of The Green, and all I can say is 'Wow!' This monograph is excellent, a very highly detailed fantasy setting, this would certainly appeal to old RQ3 and to recent BRP BGB fans looking for a fantasy setting to sink their teeth in. I would really love to see Chaosium support it with a fully published line, its got so much potential. Highly recommended!

I think its a great build for magic item creation, I would have actually preferred a generic approach to this in Advanced Sorcery, with perhaps various example 'trappings' such as Enchantments, Blessings or Bound Demonic Abilities. That way nothing is lost from the previous Elric! rules, yet other settings can gain. Just an idea, (perhaps a little late now)...

One way to handle this is to double the chance of incurring a Special Success with a weapon. It would only be simple during a session if you amend your own success table accordingly, as not to slow down actual gameplay with mathematics. It may not be the most accurate way to handle things, but I think it could be a reasonably simple fix and doesn't break the system, I'ld advise against actually changing the damage values too much to save on grief down the track.

It's also worth considering some of the BRP Mythic Earth setting books published by Alephetar. Merrie England is a great setting for fantasy medieval games, as is Crusaders Of The Amber Coast and Stupor Mundi. If you want a more ancient setting then ROME is great, and Asian fantasy can also be portrayedwell with Celestial Empire and Dragon Lines.

Oh and I forgot to add that Mythic Iceland is an exceptionally good product, well worth the outlay. It is perfect for Norse sagas and such, but much of it can be used in other fantasy settings with some minor tweaking. I really dig the use of Allegiance with the Gods, that concept can easily be ported over to fantasy pantheons to good effect. There's also a great little section on Creatures as well as Icelandic Rune Magic, lots of fantasy goodies to be had in this product, more than I have time to describe. As far as BRP BGB Magic goes I have only used Psychic Powers for a Mesmerist character in my Pulp Cthulhu setting and they work well. For my fantasy setting I tend to use my Gloranthan resources and as such the RQ magic, or a variant of it. I played Stormbringer and the magic worked well for that setting, and BGB Sorcery is based from that so it should work. I see no reason why the BGB Magic won't work. No doubt you will want to grab the Advanced Sorcery sourcebook for Magic World once its published, I think it will have a few goodies for you. Picking up RuneQuest was a good move, you'll be happy you did, its a great fantasy game (in all its editions).

Robsbot, for $5 I don't think you could go wrong with Witchcraft, its pretty good for what it sets out to do, describing psuedo-historical witchcraft magic, I personally quite like the product. Its not really vanilla fantasy though, its aimed at a more serious market, so it depends on what flavour you want your fantasy setting to be. Basic Magic is the old RQ3 magic system, its okay for fantasy campaigns, but if you are after this you'll find it is portrayed better in the more recent versions, MRQ2/ LEGEND or RQ6. If you are only after the magic system I'ld buy the LEGEND pdf as its always extremely cheap (its still only $1 for the pdf at DrivethruRPG) as you'll get a better version of the RQ3 magic (in my opinion) as well as the whole LEGEND core rules for such a cheap price in case you want to try it out. RuneQuest 6 is a more recent edition of those rules and designed to be played in the fantasy setting, its the best current product as far as content goes for a BRP fantasy variant, but it will be more expensive, or you could just wait for Magic World. As far as creatures go, if you're sticking with BRP as opposed to LEGEND or RQ6 then you can't go past the Basic Creatures book, it is the old RQ Creatures book and covers alot of ground. Also possibly of interest may be the Call of Cthulhu creatures books which are easily ported over for dark sword and sorcery fantasy settings. The most recent publication was called 'Malleus Monstrorum", although early versions may be cheaper, such as the "Ye Book of Monstres Vol 1 & 2" If you are after D&D style fantasy with BRP rules then it appears that Classic Fantasy has been well received by many in this forum. So I guess its up to whatever your tastes are ...

Not sure if this helps, its for the Savage Worlds rpg but it may have content of use to you ORtrail: http://home.comcast.net/~thinlines/oz/encyclopedia_ozica_5th_edition.pdf cheers

Excellent cover !!!

Advanced Sorcery is certainly a priority for myself, but more as a supplement for the general BRP rules rather than MagicWorld. I always preferred RQ to Elric! as far as mechanics goes (except the Demon rules for Elric!, they were very cool). I may get MagicWorld at some stage for brand support, but Advanced Sorcery will be more of a priority for me due to its versatility

OMG this book looks excellent! I would pay almost anything for a large hardcover comprehensive Glorantha sourcebook like this, especially with good quality maps and internal artwork. You can certainly count me in for this kick start project!

I just saw this as I was leaving the forums, and immediately downloaded it on my nexus 7 tab and it runs fine. What a great little idea for an app!!! Brilliant work! Greatly appreciated

Yes The Venturers Guide has got to be one of the best freebies I have seen. I'm definably buying The Green now, thanks for posting it Puck!

This is sound advice, esp if you prefer the BRP Skill Check system (my favourite) to Improvement Rolls in regards to character experience.

Well I like the BRP book and Call of Cthulhu at present, but RuneQuest remains a favourite of mine, and I often refer to my old RQ3 book when I play fantasy. Given that it is now 2012 and not 1986 then I would advise you to get the latest incarnation of RuneQuest, RQ6. It plays very well and is designed for the fantasy setting, and would be a great fit for porting a setting like Elder Scrolls into the PNP arena. You certainty can't go wrong with RQ6, although if money is an issue then LEGEND is also a great buy, as it is essentially a repackaged version of the previous RQ rules, which was developed by the same authors as the current RQ6. Its also in a handy digest format making it inexpensive, although you need the additional Monsters Of LEGEND book to have some foes (and buying Arms of LEGEND is also a good purchase). However if you buy RQ6 you get most of that under one cover, with some updated rules. So I reckon go for RQ6 or LEGEND.

I would guess that a lot of the content for Pulp Cthulhu has found its way into the this book. I think it makes sense to put out a classic Pulp book, and possibly just add some footnotes of how to involve the Mythos if a Pulp Cthulhu campaign is desired. BTW does anyone have a firm idea of a release date?

I don't have this Renaissance Deluxe rulebook, but I do have the new edition of Clockwork &Chivalry, and its great. A lovely hardcover book with good production standards. The Renaissance mechanics come together quite well and I'm sure it will be a great game to run. I'll have to read the rules more thoroughly to clarify, but I think the only additional game mechanics in the Renaissance core rulebook would be Sanity and Quick Combat. Because I have C&C 2E I would rather not buy this Renaissance rulebook, but I may grab Clockwork & Cthulhu instead...anyway I can certainly attest that the products for Renaissance are quite good and this game deserves some publicity in the stores

Some great ideas coming through here. I think I'll hunt down the 'ROME' and 'Game Of Thrones' soundtracks myself, the music really added to the mood of both of those series and I think any ancient/medieval game would be enhanced by these. BTW if you want to have a pseudo medieval-pagan feel for your setting, then perhaps Loreena McKennitt would be a good place to start, especially some of her more medieval evoking albums. I really like the work on one of her recent albums 'The Wind that Shakes The Barley', but many of her earlier albums would also suit. Not great for battles though, but quite good for evoking a folk or mystical medieval flavour and ideal for playing in the 'Merrie England' setting. Also, all jokes aside, if you like playing in a western setting with a lot of tongue-in-cheek then you can't go past the soundtrack for 'Rango' heh heh

Well, the obvious tips for Western music would be 'The Man With No Name' Trilogy movies (A Fist Full Of Dollars, A Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly) composed by Ennico Morricone. Also another good tip would be the soundtrack music from the PC game "Red Dead Redemption'. If you have these then you've got it covered. Really, any music from the 1960s/1970s spaghetti westerns would do the trick. Perhaps if you find the soundtracks for 'Unforgiven', 'Deadwood' (TV series) and 'Justified' (TV series) you'll have a good range of western genre music to game by. A far as Fantasy gaming goes, you can't go wrong with some of the PC game soundtracks for 'Worlds of Warcraft', 'Dragon Age', and the 'Conan' online game. Some good movie soundtracks for fantasy gaming would include 'Conan The Barbarian', 'The Dark Crystal', 'Legend', and perhaps 'The Lord Of The Rings' albums. Music from the recent 'John Carter' would probably be good for fantasy gaming as well. If you like your fantasy to have an 'edge', then perhaps the soundtrack from '300' would also do the trick. I'll jump off here, and let others open this thread up a bit...

Yikes. These names are in my distant memory, conjuring up early 80s mature scifi/s&s graphic novels...hmmm interesting, this setting sounds like great sword and sorcery if the inspiration is anything to go by

Yeah, now that you say that, I seem to remember this coming up before as a BRP product. It must be vapourware however, as I'm sure there would have been some announcement about it by now. It certainly would be a cool setting for a BRP or OQ game that's for sure.